Book Club Meeting Monday!

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club is meeting this coming Monday, October 27th at 3:30pm in the Children's Program Room to discuss our October book, Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy. We will have snacks, make a pumkpin craft and discuss the book. We will also be calling the author for a brief phone interview! So come ready to discuss the book and with some great questions for Ms. Kennedy.

I can't wait for our meeting - it's going to be jam-packed and lots of fun! I also have a special surprise for the book club members, sent to us by Ms. Kennedy! You'll just have to wait until Monday to find out what it is!

Have a great weekend!

Wimpy Kid Comic Contest

Have you read the very popular and funny Diary of a Wimpy Kid books? They combine text and comics to tell the very humorous story of Greg Heffley and his experiences in middle school.

Have you ever tried to draw your own comics?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is having a Do-It-Yourself Comics Contest. All you have to do is create an original comic on one side of an 8/12 x 11 piece of white paper. The contest is open to children ages 6 - 16 and ends January 31, 2009. The grand prize winner will receive one vist by Jeff Kinney to the winner's school, one framed original comic by Jeff Kinney and one signed copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book by Jeff Kinney. 30 Runners up will receive a signed copy of the book.

Visit the Children's Desk at the Newport Public Library for the official Comics Contest flyer and where to send your entry!

Good Luck!

Letters About Literature

Has a book ever touched your life in a special way? Have you ever read anything that deeply affected you? Have you ever wanted to write a letter to a famous author? Now is your chance! Enter the Letters About Literature letter writing contest presented by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target and sponsored by The Rhode Island Center for the Book. You must be at least 9 years old to enter and the deadline is December 6, 2008. There are three levels of competition: Level 1 - grades 4 - 6, Level 2 - grades 7 & 8, and Level 3 - grades 9 - 12. Here's what you have to do:

• Select a fiction or nonfiction book, short story, poem, essay, or speech that you have read and about which you have strong feelings.
• Write a letter to the author of no less than 100 words and no more than 400 words telling them how their work has affected you. Think of it as a conversation with the author - don't summarize the plot or simply flatter them.
• Submit your letter by December 6th!

For official rules and information on how to submit your letter, go to www.loc.gov/letters.

First place winners will receive a $50 gift card to a local bookstore and a $50 Target GiftCard. The first place winners in each state will then advance for national judging.

For more information, visit the children's desk at the Newport Public Library, and take a look at the official Letters About Literature flyer.

Good luck!

New Children's Poet Laureate

The 2nd Children's Poet Laureate has just been announced by The Poetry Foundation! The recipient is the wonderful Mary Ann Hoberman, author of 45 books, all but one of which are in verse. The Newport Public Library has a number of her books, including My Song is Beautiful: Poems and Pictures in Many Voices, You Read to Me, I'll Read to You and Whose Garden Is It? Come in, check out one of her books today and make poetry an important part of your life!

Ms. Hoberman also has a very interesting website with a biography, news and poetry that I encourage you to visit!

Scary Stories

It is really starting to feel like Fall outside - the leaves are falling, the air is crisp, the days are getting shorter. And in three short weeks we'll be celebrating Halloween! To get you in the mood, here are a few scary stories you might want to read...if you dare!

All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn (2008)


While spending the summer at their grandmother's Vermont inn, two prankster siblings awaken young ghosts from the inn's distant past who refuse to "rest in peace."

Who Stole Halloween? by Martha Freeman (2005)

When nine-year-old Alex and his friend Yasmeen investigate the disappearance of cats in their neighborhood, they stumble onto a larger mystery involving a haunted house and a ghostly cat.

Babymouse: Monster Mash by Jennifer and Matthew Holm (2008)

A graphic novel following the Halloween adventures of Babymouse, an imaginative young mouse.

Author Interview

I have some great news to share - we are going to have our first author interview of the year! I emailed Marlane Kennedy (author of Me and the Pumpkin Queen) to see if she would be willing to speak with our book club at our October 27th meeting and she agreed! We will be calling her at her home during the meeting, so start thinking of some great questions now. We'll have about 10 minutes to talk with her about her book and her life as a writer. This is your chance to ask an author all of the things you've always wanted to know about writing and to get any questions answered about Me and the Pumpkin Queen. We are so lucky to have this opportunity!

A BIG thank you in advance to Ms. Kennedy for her time and her willingness to participate in our book club!

Pumpkins and Pumpkin Shows

In Me and the Pumpkin Queen, Mildred is determined to win the annual Circleville, Ohio pumpkin growing contest by growing the largest pumpkin ever! Well, Circleville, Ohio is a real place and has a real Pumpkin Show every year. They have a great website with lots of interesting pictures. Check it out!

One of the biggest pumpkin festivals in New England is the Keene Pumpkin Festival in Keene, New Hampshire. This year it is on October 25th. They have an amazing display of lit jack-o-lanterns - the largest around!

Closer to home we have some pumpkin patches right here on Aquidneck Island that are worth visiting. Escobar's Highland Farm (in Portsmouth) features a pumpkin patch, corn maze and hay rides and is evening having a pumpkin festival this weekend. In Middletown we have Sweet Berry Farm which includes a pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkins!

Pumpkins are truly an autumn treasure. Go out this weekend and pick up a pumpkin - or better yet, get some seeds and grow one for yourself!